China Claims To Have Their Own MOAB—Is It More Fiction Than Fact?

Admittedly, we live in terrifying times. But now those times are even more frightening as new comes out that China may have joined an exclusive club—that of claiming to have built what they are referring to as the “Mother of All Bombs.”

So, the question is what exactly DO we know about this big bomb that China is bragging about? In a nutshell—not much! And what we have been told has some speculating more hype than truth.

The weapon in question, similar to our own GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb—or MOAB (Mother of All Bombs) was reportedly dropped from a bomber, the H-6K, which is the Chinese knockoff version of the Tu-16 aircraft developed by the Soviets in the 1950s.

On the Global Times, which is a news site state-owned by China, photographs showed what appeared as a rather massive bomb, falling from within a bomb bay, and subsequently causing a large explosion.

Wei Dongxu, a Chinese analyst with the military, made a statement to Global Times that having examined the photo evidence, and taking into consideration the size of the bomb bay on the H-6K, that he estimated the bomb to be approximately five to six meters in length.

Several media outlets in China made the speculation that the bomb could indeed weigh several tons and that due to its massive size, only one could be contained within the H-6K. Wei added that the blast from such a bomb would be enormous, and could quickly destroy fortified ground targets, such as reinforced defense areas.

In a report by the Global Times, military observers made the bold claims that “the weapon will also spread fear among enemies if a weapon of this caliber is deployed.” It is pretty much a given that if any bomb can strike fear into the hearts of an enemy, an explosive such as this will more than get the job done.

The MOAB is the largest, non-nuclear bomb that America has in its arsenal, and is the largest one that we have ever dropped to date. Just to put it into perspective, the US MOAB is a whopping 30 feet in length and weighs a bone-crushing 21,600 pounds.

With a bomb that big, there is no way in which it can be dropped from a bomber. This size of a weapon has to literally be shoved out the back of a plane—such as a C-130 transport. It is the Air Forces hope to be able to eventually equip their B-52s to carry the MOAB on their wings.

So, what’s the verdict—you decide.

Are the claims of having their own version of a MOAB based in truth, or is China just doing a lot of posturing?